Jun Miyake - Stolen From Strangers

It's been a while since I've looked into Jun Miyake, and since the last time it's gotten a bit easier to follow his music. I went ahead and gave his Stolen From Strangers album a listen, and for the most part I was pleased.

Today's track will feature sweet seductive French female vocals, and a story that you need not understand to feel. Give it a listen.

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I really love how the Afro-percussion plays out on the track. Her sweet, almost innocent vocals against the elaborate and harder hitting percussion is, for me, the balance in the song. Everything around it is the details that make it a great listen.

The simple, slow progression to the track that reaches a softened but well experienced climax make me pretty happy too. By the end of the song you can hear it's changed. Realizations made, a story told, and the music accompanies the motions every step of the way.

Maybe I'm getting a little too into it, but deep down it's listening to music like this that makes me appreciate people like Jun Miyake. It's the details.

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Stolen From Strangers is a fine look into Jun's composition and comprehension skills. Not everyone can mimic Bossa Nova without completely imitating the genre, and not everyone can put contrasting emotions on separate instruments and make it work, but it's clear he can on this album.

Now yes, some of these songs are a little difficult to get into. The styles are varied, as are the vocalists. The result is a seemingly balanced but ultimately erratic album that will really tickle some hard listeners' fancy.

The vocals are mainly provided by Arto Lindsay (as heard on Alviverde, which is the original version of Lillies of the Valley) and today's Lisa Papineau (also of Big Sir). If both tracks suit you well, maybe you should give the album a listen.